Cardboard Computer Station

With quarantine and many people staying home it does not matter if you are a student or adult with a job we are stuck at home and need to do work from home. For most this is a gigantic leap from spending most of the day at work or school and having space for everything there, it can be hard to get organized at home. Now while working at home we need computers for work, headphones for zoom calls and different pieces of paper in front of you to refer too. The only problem is that it can be hard to find a place with easy access to all of this. This is what inspired my take on a simple computer station that does not take much space. So whether you have a big desk or have a small place this is perfect for each and any environment. With this organizer it makes it easier to have all that's needed in one place.

- carboard

- box cuter (utility knife)

- ruler

- scissors

- one bag clip

- a pen (anything to write with)

- dimensions of phone (this one is made with iPhone 6 dimensions)

- dimensions of computer (this is made with a Chromebook 13" dimensions)

- hot glue gun

First thing first it to make sure you draw out and dimension what you want to make. This is important because once it is down on paper not only does it make building it easier but also helps you realize what it would like and if any changes nee to be made it is easy to make them on paper then before starting to build. Make sure that you're drawing is dimensioned so that you know ahead of time how much material is needed (this is where the dimensions of you devices are needed). When planing everything out measure the size of your phone so you can know how big to make the stand holing it. Also measure the size of your computer screen so that all the components can be on the sides of the computer and not behind or too far out.

The first action taken to build the phone stand is to draw each component onto the cardboard. If you are using cardboard boxes unfold it completely so it lays flat on the ground. Once the cardboard is in front of you take the pen and start drawing each piece that you will glue together to form the stand. While drawing everything out use the ruler so you have straight lines to follow while cutting. Once all the parts are drawn onto the cardboard take the box cutter and cut each piece. Once done cutting lay all of the pieces in front of you. When hot glueing the stand together it is important to make to base first. So take all four sides (which should be 1'' by 6 1/2 '') and glue them so they form a box. Once the base is done now glue the back piece of holding the phone (4'' by 5 1/2'') to the base at a slight angle. Once this is glued take the 1/2'' by 6 1/2'' piece and glue it angled up on the bottom of the back piece. In order to hot glue this piece at an angle take the hot glue and go across the connecting pieces (as shown in the video). Then the final step is to make the triangle on the back of the base so the phone stand does not fall. To make this triangle it requires that first you glue the piece that is angled to hold the stand upright then attaches a piece on the bottom of this triangle to connect the angled piece and the base better.

In order to create the headphone stand you must again outline all the necessary pieces onto the cardboard. Continue to use the ruler to get nice straight lines that you will next use as guides to cut. Once it is all outline now cut out each individual piece and lay them out once done. Now it's time to hot glue it all together. I recommend hot gluing the two L shaped pieces to the longest strip (back strip) first, then to glue the top strip, then finally to glue the strips that are in the L (inside front strip and the bottom top strip). Once this is all done and you have adde the triangle at the bottom (like in step 2) then what you want to do it take a finished toilet paper roll and cut it in half long ways. Now open it up just enough to fit it on the overhang of the stand. To secure it in place hot glue on the two sides you cut, then place it onto the stand.

The final component to our computer organizer is the part that contains a clip to hold paper. This is going to be the easiest component to make, first like always we will outline our part onto the card board using a ruler to get straight lines. When you are done drawing it on the cardboard we will cut the piece out. For this component we do not need it to stand because it will glued onto the strip that will connect all three of the components. Now that it is cut out we will hot glue the clip roughly in the middle but more toward the open end (not the end that comes down). Now we are done and can move on to connect it all together.

We are now in the final stretch, we have all of our components made so now it's time to put it all together. The part that holds all the components together is a strip of cardboard that is 2'' by 14'' (the size will vary based on the size of your computer screen). At the very end of this strip (on right) we will first hot glue the paper holder. Then we will take the strip with the paper holder and have the headphone stand roughly in the middle (you may place it where it fits your needs better) and hot glue it to the flat back side of the stand. The finally we will hot glue the phone stand but the back of the phone stand is angle and we want to be able to see out phone so we also have to angle the final position of the stand just slightly. With all these angles it could be a little tricky to hot glue them together. What we will want to do is to put just a dot of hot glue in the upmost corner of the strip (on the left side) and connect them just barely like this. Then we will take a little piece of cardboard put glue on each end then attach it between the phone stand and the strip. We place this piece of cardboard at the bottom of the left side of the strip. This little piece is what connects the strip to the phone stand. Now we hav a completed computer organizer.